Cattle-guard.



L. W. GARDEN. CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4, 1912.

1,070,1 12. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

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CATTLE GUARD.

APPLIUATION FILED 0M. 4, 1912.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

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"UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

LUTHER W. GARDEN, 0F FLORENCE, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO Gr. H. RUSSELL, OF FLORENCE, ALABAMA.

CATTLE-GUARD.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LUTHER IV. GARDEN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Florence, in the county of Lauderdale and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Guards, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to cattle guards to be used on railway tracks. All of such guards are designed to prevent the passage of cattle along the railroad track over them, and the particular objects had in view in the present case are to accomplish this result more effectively without any danger of injuring cattle, and at the same time to produce a device which can be easily and cheaply made, and which will be of simple construction. In addition to this the objects are to make the device strong and durable and of such form that it will not catch or engage anything passing over it.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the novel features of construction pointed outin the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a plan view of my cattle guard; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. is a detail sectional view showing one means for supporting the rollers; Fig. 4: is a similar view showing another means for supporting the rollers; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of a metal roller showing the same mounted in the supporting frame; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one-half of the roller as stamped or pressed; Fig. 7 is aplan view of the same; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the end cap; Fig. 9 is a central sectional view of the end cap.

In these drawings, 1 represents the ordinary railroad rails resting on the cross ties 2. Between the rails and on the ties outside of them I place frames carrying a series of rollers to act as the guard to prevent the passage of animals over it. I make the guard of four such frames all of which are alike, the space between the rails being filled by two frames placed side by side, and the other two frames being placed on the ends of the ties outside of the rails. Each frame is made up of the side bars 3 and 4, and extending between these bars there are a series of rollers 5, these rollers Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 4, 1912.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Serial No. 723,984.

' being supported from the side bars in such a way that they can freely turn. The rollers are solid or hollow and may be made of wood or metal. In the form shown in Fig. 3 the roller is made of wood and has an end cap 6 made of metal fitting entirely over the end of the roller and having the edge of its flange turned down into the groove 7 so as to hold the cap firmly in place. Metal pins or journal bearings 8 are securely fastened in the side bars projecting a short distance inwardly to form bearing supports for the rollers at their ends. These pins pass through central openings in the caps and into bearing openings 9 in the ends of the rollers. I may however mount the rollers as shown in Fig. 4, where a metal pin 12 is driven into the end of the wooden roller 5 and projects therefrom through a bearing opening 13 in the side bars 1%, thus supporting the roller so it can turn. The pin 12 is preferably screw threaded at its inner ends so that it can be screwed into place and a metal band 15 is fitted closely around the ends of the rollers 5 to prevent splitting. The side bars as shown in this figure are made in the form of angle irons which form gives greater strength to the device as a whole and prevents the bars from spreading.

Each wooden roller is to be treated with creosote which tends to preserve them when exposed to the weather.

The solid rollers are preferably turned I in a lathe so that they will have a corrugated form made up of circumferential ribs 10. Adjacent rollers are so formed and arranged that the ribs on one roller will be opposite the depressions in the next roller. These ribs are rounded so as to present a smooth surface, and they have the effect of spreading the hoof of any cow that steps on them without, however, any chance of injuring the cow. The rollers not only spread the hoof, but turn, giving the animal the impression of an insecure footing, in addition to the unpleasant sensation of spreading the hoof.

The metal rollers are preferably hollow and formed from sheet steel, as shown in Fig. 5. The preferred method of forming the hollow rollers is to make them in halves, uniting them along the longitudinal meeting edges of the halves by electrically welding the said edges together. The halves 16 and 17 are pressed or rolled from sheet steel of suitable thickness. The opposite ends 18 and 19 of each half are semicylindrical while the portion intermediate the ends is provided with the corrugations or alternating ribs 20 and grooves 21 as in the solid wooden rolls shown in Figs. 1 to 1.

In order to rotatably support the hollow metal rollers, each end of the tubular body is closed by a dish-sl'iaped metal disk or end cap 22 which is joined to the outer ends of the tube by an electrical weld. The disk 22 is provided at its center with a suitable opening 23 to receive a pivot pin 24 which rotatably supports the roller in the frame made up of the angle irons 25, 25, as in the case of the wooden rollers before described. The disks 22 are dish-shaped so that they form a shoulder and bearing surface of small area at the center, thereby preventing the ends of the roller body from rubbing against the side bars 25, 25, and allowing the rollers to turn freely.

To prevent the metal rollers from rusting, they are galvanized inside and outside,in fact the entire guard including the sides, ends and pivots may be galvanized to preserve them against deterioration.

At the end of the side bars I place the metal shield 11 which is secured to the side bars and extends inward toward the rollers at an angle. This shield, as well as the smooth surface of the rollers, prevents the device from catching in anything carried or pulled along the track, and prevents accidental injury to the animals which at tempt to pass over it. All of the frames being alike, it is apparent that they can be made easily and cheaply and may be brought together in compact form for shipment and for storage.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A railway cattle guard comprising side bars and a series of parallel rollers journaled in said side bars, each of said rollers having on its surface a plurality of rounded transverse ribs.

2. A railway cattle guard comprising side bars and a series of parallel rollers journaled in said side bars, each of said rollers having on its surface a plurality of rounded transverse ribs, the ribs on adjacent rollers being staggered.

8. A railway cattle guard comprising side bars and a series of parallel rollers circular in cross section journaled in said side bars, each of said rollers having 011 its surface a plurality of transverse ribs with rounded edges.

4:. A railway cattle guard comprising side bars adapted to rest upon the railroad ties parallel to the rails, shields connecting the ends of said bars and inclined inwardly toward each other and upwardly, and a series of parallel rollers journaled in said side bars between said shields each roller having a plurality of rounded transverse ribs.

5. A railway cattle guard made up of a series of similar frames carrying rollers having rounded transverse ribs placed longitudinally side by side, filling the space between the railroad rails and the space on the ties outside of said rails.

6. A railway cattle guard comprising side bars and a series of hollow metal rollers journaled in said side bars, each of said rollers having transverse ribs formed on its surface.

7. A railway cattle guard comprising in combination side bars, a series of parallel hollow sheet metal rollers having a plurality of rounded transverse ribs, and means at the ends of said rollers to rotatably support the rollers on the side bars.

8. A railway cattle guard comprising in combination side bars, and a series of paral-' lel hollow metal rollers made of two similar parts joined together, said rollers being journaled in said side bars.

9. A roller for a cattle guard comprising two substantially similar concave halves formed from sheet metal and joined together, and caps at the ends and connected to the halves.

10. A roller for use in a railway cattle guard comprising a body substantially circular in cross section and having a plurality of parallel ribs provided with rounded pcripheral edges, for the purpose set forth.

11. In a railway cattle guard the combination of side bars and a series of rollers journaled therein, each roller comprising a plurality of transverse ribs provided with rounded peripheral surfaces, said surfaces merging into one another at their edges.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUTHER W. GARDEN.

Witnesses:

JEFF. L. GRAY, G. H. RUssnLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

